Avatar: Revival
by wind of the spirit king
Summary: This story focuses on the Avatar after Korra, set in a world where the spiritual aspect of the people has fallen to the wayside in the face of modern technology and bending has become little more than a tool for convenience or a past time. The Avatar is viewed more as a mascot to raise morale than a hero. Soon though, the new Avatar will be needed far more than expected.


The Avatar, sole user and master of all four elements, bridge between the human and spirit realms. In the past, their existence has been instrumental in the crisis' of the world, and in this age it shall be no different. However, the world has changed, so much so that it believes the Avatar is no longer needed. This change has been brought on by the advancement of technology, most notably the invention and mass production of fire arms. These weapons have largely nullified the effectiveness of bending, and the elements power in the world has slowly decayed. The number of benders born has consistently dropped and the once great nations have merged into one empire that pays no heed to the spirits or elements. So, the new Avatar is seen as no more than a mascot, a tool to raise morale in a war that has been raging against an enemy operating under the name Xinren, who's goals remain a mystery. However, the world still needs it's Avatar, whether it realizes it or not. The time is fast that the new Avatar will be revealed, and that they will be set down a path more tumultuous than they have seen in many incarnations. Go forward young Avatar, and embrace the destiny of a decaying world.

Rain fell in a city of smoke and steam onto streets paved by heartless machines for people that no longer cared for the ground that lie beneath. The city, for most, was a beautiful place. Filled with various buildings and skyscrapers defined by magnificent architecture, a city that marked the highest advancement that human could achieve. Yes, Monolith City was the beacon of pioneering and in many ways the golden child of the world, a picture of for the world. However, the greater light something casts, the larger it's shadow. The slums of the city were home to some of the poorest conditions in the world and the most violent of criminals. Monolith City's shadow was in most respects an entirely different city. It's buildings were far from pleasant, and it's streets were lined with people that didn't even have the luxury of staying in them. It is here that the next Avatar will be found.

Two fingers, all clear. Three fingers, hold. One finger, run. That's all she needed to know for this. Simple enough really. All she had to do was watch and give the signal, then, with luck, they would have dinner. The target was a shady restaurants kitchen. Her partner would go through the back door when the worker went out to dispose of the trash and 'acquire' their dinner. They would split it 50-50, as always. What was even better, was that she had a personal grudge with the owner. He was a large man, to put it lightly, and had attempted to make some rather unpleasant moves on her, so any payback she could get, she would take.

Like clockwork, at six, the kitchen worker came out. She looked around inside from her vantage point, inside a trashcan opposite the door, and raised a small lump of earth to hold the door open. Two fingers, with that sign, her partner rushed in and in a flash, slipped back out and around the corner with the prize. With a smirk, she lowered the lump of earth and the door closed. Judging by the man's expression as he approached the door, he hadn't noticed. Another successful mission it seemed.

Then, the lid of the trashcan was lifted, revealing the face of the owner of the food her partner had just stolen. He was wearing quite a large smirk and all she could do was attempt to smile innocently and wave before he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out.

"Your 'partner' was rather easy to persuade when he ran into me around the corner, little miss. He even got to keep the food. You, however, I am afraid are not going to have such an easy go of things. Someone has to pay for the food." He put on a rather dirty smirk and looked at her. "And since I doubt you have any money, I will have to think of other ways for you to pay." He laughed and his own threat, but all the girl did was smirk.

The smirked persisted as her drew closer to her, but by the time he noticed, it was to late. "Should've grabbed my arms fat-man." His eyes widened as he realized what she meant, but by then, she was already raising a rather large bar of earth between his legs. As expected, he dropped her when it connected and she ran off whole sticking her tongue out at the man, laughing as she went.

"Plan, success!"

A few minutes later, she made her way to the building she and her partner were using and sat down, leaning against the wall and sighing in a very content fashion.

Her partner was sitting beside her and gave her a thumbs up. "Man, that fat fool fell for it hook, line, and sinker." He laughed happily and tossed the girl a bread roll out of the sack of food he'd snagged. "Don't think we can go back there though, or even back to that area. Guy may be a jerk, but he does own like half the places there." With that, he dug into his own roll.

The girl laughed a bit herself. "It was worth it. I mean, you should've seen the guys face when he realized I got him, priceless. I doubt he'll be going after girls any time soon either. Heck, maybe I even crushed them, would serve him right. I mean, I know I'm easy on the eyes, but who said he could grab my butt like that." She took a bite of her roll and chuckled a bit, relaxing. "This was so worth it, but I gotta ask Jin, why'd you suggest goin' for it today? I mean, wouldn't it have been better to break in at night?"

Jin smiled at his partner after her comment. It seemed she'd forgotten. Not a surprise really, she never remembered after all. They'd been together since they were five and not once had she ever remembered her own birthday. In fact, she didn't have that great a memory about anything.

They called each other partner, but the truth was, they were more like siblings. He was the brains and she was the brawn. That's how they had always been and that's how they would always be. But, things had changed a bit over the years, and that comment she'd made earlier didn't help. She really was easy on the eyes and he'd become more conscious of it recently.

She was a girl of average height, but as evidenced by her earlier hiding spot she was pretty slim. Her hair was short, maybe shoulder length, and a light shade of brown. He would have liked it longer, but that didn't mean it didn't look nice, even when kept straight. The part of her though, ignoring her curves, that caught him and others most though, was her eyes. They were hazel, but something about them made them seem to shine, like gems.

So, he sat there beside his partner, his sister, and as of late, the girl he'd fallen for and smiled. He doubted the latter would ever even be said, but being beside her was enough. He was a scrawny guy with unremarkable short hair and brown eyes. He barely met her in height and wasn't half as athletic as she was, but he did have speed and smarts, so he would support her as best he could.

He chuckled a bit, the situation reminding him he had to stick around so she wouldn't forget things either. That said, he reached into the bag and pulled out a small, somewhat crushed piece of cake he'd managed to scrape up the money for and held it out to her. "It's simple really, I suggested we do this today because I couldn't get you anything else. Happy Birthday, Ai. I couldn't find eighteen candles, well...I couldn't find any candles at all haha, so just pretend they're there."

Ai stared for a moment and the cake, then looked up at Jin. She wasn't surprised really about it being her birthday, nor was she surprised that he would set something like this up for it. What surprised her was that small piece of cake. Through all the years, she had never had any, it wasn't something the bakeries kept over night and Jin certainly didn't steal it by himself. That left one thing. "You...bought that...didn't you?"

Money was something that didn't come easily to them, being kids on the street, but despite that he had chosen to spend what little he had to by that for her. That meant way more than the set up they had done. Some tears formed in her eyes and she smiled, then hugged him tightly. "Thanks bro...I really mean it."

* * *

Jin smiled at the hug and returned it, but sighed a bit at the brother designation. Oh well, he hadn't expected anything else. He maintained the smile and the two spent the rest of the night having a meager celebration. To them though, it was a feast.

The next day found Ai in quite the spirited run. Despite Jin's warnings, she had gone back to the block of the fat-man's restaurant. She had wanted to check out whether he was managing to walk right after the previous days events. As it turned out, he could and so could the guard he'd hired, quite well with the latter in fact.

Normally, that would not be a problem, but the man the pig had hired turned out to be an earth bender as well, and one more skilled than she was. As a result, she was on the run and having to practice her acrobatics at the same time to dodge the various obstacles and traps the bender chasing her created.

Unfortunately, the man was trained physically while Ai was not, so the longer the chase lasted, the harder it was becoming for her to keep it up. To make matters worse, she was being forced in the opposite direction of her home. She had to think of a plan, something to shake them off.

As they approached an alley way, she saw an opportunity. There was a man attempting to sell some cabbages from a cart. She felt sorry for the cabbage man and what she was about to do to his product, but she didn't much fancy becoming the pig-man's plaything. So she lifted the earth under the cart as she passed and spilled the cabbages...

Or she would have, if at that moment a bullet hadn't grazed the arm she had been using to direct her bending. Pain shot through her arm and her eyes widened in panic. This chase had gotten more out of hand than she had expect and now she didn't have a lot of options of where to go. The best she could manage was rushing into run down building out the end of the alley.

The wound on her arm wasn't that serious, but the very fact the she had been shot had her in a panic. Maybe if she had been thinking clearly, she would have been able to hide better, but as it was all she could do was huddle in a corner in fear.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the man to find her. He stood over her with a smirk and put his gun away, seeing the state she was in. His orders were to bring her back to the fat-man as unharmed as possible, but now that he looked at her, she looked pretty good for a street rat. It would be easy enough to make up a story.

He approached Ai slowly and began to extend a hand out towards her. _So this is how things are gonna turn out? The day after your birthday your gonna let yourself get taken like this? Show some backbone girl!_

The voice that spoke in her head wasn't her own, but somehow, it seemed so familiar. She didn't want to wind up a slave, but what was she supposed to do here? The man coming at her was a better earth bender than she was, and he had a gun. She didn't have a chance and fighting back would only make things worse for her.

_Ugh! Fine, if your to scared I'll help you just this once. Just close your eyes and relax, I'll do the rest._

Ai didn't know if she was going crazy, or if the voice was real, but she did know that if it was telling the truth, she had to take this chance. So, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let herself go.

The man before her looked at her oddly. That was an odd reaction considering her position. Oh well, it wasn't like she could do anything anyway. He decided to shrug off her odd behavior and reached for her again.

At that moment, Ai's eyes opened, but they were not her own. Instead, they were glowing a brilliant blue. Before the man could even fully register his surprise, he was blasted out the window by a jet of air. When he recovered, getting the girl was the last thing on his mind as he ran off.

The girl herself lost consciousness as seen as the stream of water ceased, partially out of strain, partially out of shock about what she had just done. When she woke several hours had passed and the sun was setting. The wound on her arm had closed but still stung and her shock hadn't worn off.

She wanted to write it all off as a dream, but the busted window too obviously declared it hadn't been and she remembered it to clearly for it to not be true. She had done something that should be impossible. It may have been that voice that was in control, but it was her body that had bent air. That was impossible right?

This was all to much to process on her own, maybe Jin could help her think it through. Yeah, he would know what was going on. He always knew what to do. She laughed a bit, though it carried more than a hint of fear, and headed back to her home, holding her arm as she walked.

By the time she returned, it had started raining. She entered the empty building and sat in the corner, soaked to the bone and shaking both out of cold and fear Jin wasn't there, so all she could do was sit and think to herself. Her thoughts always returned to that one point though, she had bent air. It shouldn't be possible, yet she had seen herself, felt herself do it.

She recalled a story about someone who had the power to bend more than one element, but she had only heard about it in passing. It was probably just an old legend or something...but...maybe she should ask about that when she got the chance...if Jin didn't know.

As it turned out, the man in her thoughts returned almost as if that thought had called him. "Ai...where have you been? Why did you let yourself get soaked like that? Are you...crying? Ai...whats wrong?" It was more than obvious something had shaken her badly. HE clenched his fist at the thought. If it was that fat man...

Rather than clinging to Jin and crying, which admittedly was what she wanted to do, all she could do was look at him. Finally, after what felt like hours for them(in reality, five minutes), She looked up at him with a desperate look on her face. "Jin...I'm...I'm not normal anymore."


End file.
